FONDATION CLAUDE MONET

  To discover Gardens and House of Claude Monet : PANORAMIC VIEW 2011

"One must absolutely make a pilgrimage to Giverny, to this flowered-sanctuary, to have a better understanding of the master,a better grasp of the sources of his inspiration and to imagine him still alive among us.“

Gerald Van der Kemp

“It is at Giverny that one had to have seen Claude Monet to know him, to his character, his love of life, and his innermost nature... This house and garden are also works of art and Monet spent his whole life creating and perfecting them.“

Gustave Geffroy

  Photo, left to right : Kuroki (born princess Matsukata), Claude Monet, Lily Butler, Blanche Hoschedé-Monet and Clémenceau.

In March 2008, Mr Hugues R. GALL was elected, by his fellow-members of the Academy of Beautiful arts, director of the Claude Monet Foundation in Giverny. Hugues Randolph GALL, born in Honfleur on March 18, 1940, is a director of French opera, which in particular directed the Large Theatre of Geneva and the National Opera of Paris.

After its studies at the institute of political studies of Paris and in the Sorbonne in German letters, it begins its career in the cabinets of Edgar Faure to the ministry for Agriculture then at the Nationale minister of education ; in this last station, it is in charge of the artistic lesson. It then creates the music field of the baccalaureat and the artistic department of the university of Vincennes. It forms then part of the cabinet of Edmond Michelet, minister of state in charge of the Cultural Affairs.

General secretary of the Meeting of the national opera houses as from 1969, he is the assistant of Rolf Liebermann to the national theatre of the Opera of 1973 to 1980. He is then director of the Large Theatre of Geneva of 1980 to 1995, and finally director of the National Opera of Paris of 1995 to 2004.

He is, since 2004, Conseiller of State in extraordinary service ; he is vice-president of the Noureev Foundation, of the professional room of the directors of operas (CPDO), member of the council of the Foundation of company of Veolia Environnement, since September 2004, Chairman of the board of the Institute for the financing of the cinema and culture industries (IFCIC).

Mr Hugues GALL is also Commandeur of the Legion of Honor inter alia distinctions and Membre of the Academy of Beaux Arts, elected official on December 18, 2002 with the seat of Daniel Wildenstein (section of the free members).

  Blossoming calendar of Claude Monet’s garden.

• April
  Tulips, pansies, forget-me-nots, narcissi, aubrietas, cherry and crab-apple blossom, fritillaries, daffodils...

• May
  Irises, peonies, rhododendrons, geraniums, wisterias, azaleas, wallflowers, daisies, delphiniums,...

• June
  Roses, poppies, clematis, Tamaris...

• July
  Roses, nasturtiums, ageratums, zinnias, nicotianas, busy lizzies, verbenas, dahlias, rudbeckias, salvias, primulinus gladiolus, cleomes, cosmos, sunflowers, helianthus, hollyhocks... Beginning of water lilies.

• August
  Dahlias, cosmos, hibiscus, end of waterlilies.

• September
  Nasturtiums carpet the Grande Allée, Asters, dahlias, cosmos, rudbeckias...

• October
  Dahlias. All the annual flowers untill frost.

Claude Monet

Paris
1840-1926
Giverny

  1845 The Monet family establishes itself in Le Havre.
  1858 Meets Eugène Boudin who encourages him to paint en plein air.
  1859-60 Attends the Académie Suisse in Paris, then works in the studio of Charles Gleyre between 1862 and 1864.
  1860s Meets Auguste Renoir, Frédéric Bazille and Alfred Sisley. Paints in Fontainebleau and on the Norman coast.
  1862 Meets the Dutch painter johan Barthold Jongkind who will influence his work.
  1870-71 Stays in London. Discovers John Constable as well as J.M.W. Turner.
  1871-83 PARIS Lives in Argenteuil, 1840-1926 in Vétheuil and in Poissy.
  1874, 1876, 1877,1879,1882 Exhibits with the group of impressionis painters.
  1880-89 Paints on the Norman, Breton and Mediterranean coasts.
  1883 Settles in Giverny, in the Maison du Pressoir, which he buys in 1889.
  1889 Begins to paint the Haystack series, then the Poplar and the Rouen Cathédral series in the 1890s.
  1899 Paints the first water lily and Japanese bridge series.
  1899-1901 Travels to London where he paints.
  1908 Travels to Venice where he paints.
  1912 Suffers from cataract in both eyes. He will nonetheless paint until his death.
  1916-26 Creates the monumental water lily panels for the Orangerie des Tuileries in Paris.

Monet at Giverny.

Claude Monet noticed the village of Giverny while looking out the window of a train he was riding. He made up his mind to move there and rented a house and the area surrounding it.

In 1890 he had enough money to buy the house and land outright and set out to create the magnificent gardens he wanted to paint. Some of his most famous paintings, such as his water lily and Japanese bridge paintings, were of his garden in Giverny.

Monet lived in Giverny from 1883 until his death in 1926. He and many members of his family are interred in the village cemetery.

Florence van der Kemp.
Florence (Flo-RAHNZ) and her late husband Gerald van der Kemp were for many years the force behind the private fund-raising and restoration at Versailles, where Mr. van der Kemp served as the chief curator, and where they lived (and brought up their family) in the apartments that were originally built for Colbert, the minister of finance for Louis XIV.

The van der Kemps fundraising efforts brought out the best of many an American millionaire and billionaire and made a big difference in putting France’s greatest cultural symbol in the excellent condition we enjoy today. In fact, the van der Kemps were so successful that when they retired, the took on the restoration of Monet’s gardens at Giverny. Florence, who is another one of those working girls, now over 90, continues the work she and her husband started, as she gently reminded her guests today, imploring them to keep in touch when planning a visit to Paris or Giverny.